police and protesters square off in cairo. egyptians aren't backing down in their fight to get their president to reverse a controversial decision. japanese investigators have been finding bodies in barrels, and they expect to find more. they say one woman is the mastermind behind a kidnap, torture and murder ring that forced families to turn against each other. and kyoto's fall colors after dark. the nighttime view in japan's ancient capital draws the

crowds. welcome to nhk world "newsline." protesters in egypt are digging in and vowing not to budge until the country's president bows to their demands. they brought down hosni mubarak nearly two years ago. now they're threatening to topple his successor, mohamed morsi. egyptians started rallying last week after president morsi expanded his powers. young people in opposition parties that ousted the mubarak government last year have been occupying tahrir square in central cairo. some of them helped elect morsi. security forces stormed the square wednesday and fired tear gas. protesters threw stones. one of them told nhk they will demonstrate until morsi reverses his decision or resigns. the president announced constitutional amendments last week making it impossible for judicial courts to overturn his decisions. the protests against him have

spread to other cities in egypt. demonstrators reportedly clashed with supporters of morsi's party, the muslim brotherhood. many people are believed to have been injured. these are the latest public demonstrations morsi has faced since he took office in june. two car bombs have exploded in damascus in the eastern district. syrian's state media described the blasts as -- the second bomb went off when people gathered for the first blast. the activists blamed government forces for the bombings, claiming that most of the victims were civilian. fighting has intensified in syria. government troops responded with

fierce air attacks in towns around the air base. a london human rights group says 40,000 people have been killed since march of last year. japanese police and prosecutors are building their case against a woman they say was the mastermind behind a kidnapping, torture and murder ring. investigators say miyoko sumida preyed on people close to her, that she's responsible for keeping them confined and physically abused and that she orchestrated as many as nine deaths. prosecutors indicted her on tuesday on the charge of dumping the body of a man in the sea. police found the body in a concrete-filled drum in the waters over okihama prefecture. investigators suspect sumida, who is 64, kept the man confined in her condominium in amagasaki in hyogo prefecture and that she orchestrated his abuse and death. prosecutors also indicted her husband, sister-in-law and sons.

investigators say victims were held in her condo against their will, deprived of food and water and physically abused before they died. in most cases they say relatives of the victims were the ones who carried out the abuse. police have found five bodies. they believe four other people who are listed as missing are connected to this case and likely dead. investigators say sumida's crimes could date back a decade. during that time citizens and police had warning signs but they didn't act. lax law enforcement is partly to blame but so is japanese tendency to respect privacy. earlier i spoke with nhk world's yoichiro tateiwa who is covering this story. yoichiro, how didn't this case come to light? >> it first came up a year ago when a woman fled to a police station and said she had been kidnapped and held against her will. since then the police have found dead bodies in different parts of western japan.

investigators say sumida was the mastermind behind the deaths. here is how they say it worked. her family would brainwash or control members of different families. those individuals would be encouraged to help her keep their own relatives confined against their will and then they would abuse those relatives. some of those individuals have also been indicted. police say the alleged victims were forced to borrow money and give it to sumida. altogether they believe she received about half a million dollars. but they don't know if money was the only motive. many questions remain unanswered. >> one of the questions is, if sumida and others are responsible for these crimes as police and prosecutors think, how do they get away without noticing anything or anyone? >> it's actually hard to grasp. given the number of families that were involved and the fact

that sumida's condo is located in a residential area of amagasaki. we're talking about an urban area, not a remote town in the countryside. sumida is believed to have confined and abused people there for more than ten years. neighbors had noticed something wrong on a number of occasions. in some cases they saw sumida take her alleged victims out to dinner and witness notice bruise on their faces. some of those alleged victims escaped. police say sumida or her associates tracked them down and kidnapped them again. we know people witnessed some odd scenes. but there are no confirmed cases of anyone reporting what they saw to investigators. the police are also facing questions over their inaction. one alleged victim borrowed money from her family to give to sumida. the police conducted interviews

in that case but didn't launch a formal investigation. they have started an internal investigation to figure out what went wrong. >> we talked earlier about the privacy issues in japan and how people tend to stay away from other people's business. what would be behind this lax attitude of citizens as well as authorities? >> gene, it's common in urban japan not to get involved in other people's lives out of respect for their privacy. there are cultural reasons for this. but now the fact there's increase in nuclear families, extended families living together or close to each other are becoming a thing of the past. as for police, the amagasaki affair could be characterized as a big case of domestic violence. japanese police have a traditional of not interfering in domestic affairs. the data backs this up. take child abuse, for example.

children's welfare centers dealt with about 50,000 cases in 2010. the police handled fewer than 400 of them that year. japanese police have been changing their attitude, but overall there's culture about intervening in domestic issues. i spoke with a prosecutor who deals with domestic violence. he says the sumida case is one of the most odd in japan's criminal history. but he said in general, the basic perception in the japanese judicial system is that not all law apply to households. he says it's time for society and the judicial system to change so potential crimes can be prevented, both outside and inside the home. >> thanks for that yoichiro. police on an island in the sea of japan made a grisly discovery. they found the remains of five people in a wooden boat. police on sado island say a

fishery operator discovered the boat and officers found the bodies inside. they're badly decomposed. police believe they're all adult males. they may have died as long as two months ago. the signs on the boat were written in the korean alphabet. that suggests it came from somewhere on the korean peninsula. police do not believe the group are defectors from north korea. they say it's likely they are fishermen who got into trouble at sea. a chinese man in prison for fire bombing the japanese embassy in seoul now has a crack legal team on his side thanks to the chinese government. chinese authorities assembled the team to seek expedition of liu qiang from south korea. he was arrested in january after throwing bombs at the embassy. he's also admitted to setting fire to the yasukuni shrine. in tokyo last december. japanese officials have asked south korea to transfer liu after his jail term ends under

their extradition treaty. however the chinese contracted lawyers want the man sent home as a political offender, rather than handed over to japan. south korean judicial officials say the legal team is made up of five lawyers from a prominent south korean law firm. the trial at the seoul high court is scheduled to begin on thursday. tibetan exiles of india have taken to the streets in new delhi to protest the new government. >> reporter: tibetan exiles are angry about -- hundreds gathered in the indian capital wednesday to criticize china. they say its policies have driven does accepts of tibetan refugees to set fire to themselves. >> reporter: tibetan people are

protesting daily to show their solidarity with self imgreat fors. 400 demonstrators protested in tibet. >> you cannot talk about religion, and you cannot, you know, say anything against the government. >> reporter: the tibetan government in exile says the situation is desperate in chinese provinces. it's said 72 tibetans in china have set fire to themselves this year. 60 of them died. the chinese government claims that the lalama encourages their actions. china and the deli lama have held negotiations since 2002. the dalchina's position hasle n

changed since january of 2010. china's leadership transition began this month. tibetan leaders hope that wednesday's demonstration will add pressure to those taking power in beijing to return to the negotiationing table. . police in bangladesh have arrested three managers from a garment factory where a deadly fire erupted last weekend. they'll be investigated on suspicion of negligence. textile workers are demandsing those responsible are punished and safety standards tightened. the first garment factory blaze erupted on saturday. at least 112 people died and 150

were injured. survivors told police that management prevented extreme in leaving the four story building when a fire alarm went off. bangladesh has about 5,400 garment factories, it is the world's second biggest exporter of garments in china. on wednesday, thousands of people took to the streets. working conditions in bang la degrees are notoriously bad and safety laws are weak. global brands that rely on cheap labor are under renewed pressure following the tragedy.

the chief justice of myanmar -- was under strict military rule for decades, but since last year, the country has moved toward democracy under the leadership of the president. he delivered a speech in tokyo on wednesday. he stressed the importance of reforming myanmar's judiciary to become an effective check on the government. . >> translator: stopping and reventing corruption is a big challenge for all authorities especially the judiciary. >> noda offered japan's assistance to develop effective legal systems. japan is planning a program to train lawyers from myanmar and help revise its civil code. myanmar's reform government is led by civilians, but the

constitution still reserves one-quarter of seats in pal meant for the military. during wednesday's speech, the chief justice said all citizens have the right to equality, freedom and justice. but he stopped short of saying whether the constitution should be changed. >> and that wraps up our bulletin from bangkok. scientists are raising the alarm over another source of global warming. that comes from perm ma frost which scientists say is melting releasing greenhouse gasses trapped under the ice.

the authors say perma frost contains huge amounts of carbon from the melting of organic matter. perma frost covers almost a quarter of the northern hemisphere including large parts of siberia and canada. it could release as much as 105 giga tons of co2 before the end of the year. >> perma frost tends to be very durable but when it melts, tarrant county infrastructure gets soft. >> the scientists warn emissions

from perma frost could start within the next few decades. japanese officials have struggled to deal with the tainted soil from the fukushima daiichi meltdown. no one wants to touch it. now there has been a break through of sorts. the government has gotten the release to look for possible storage sites on their land. fukushima governor told leaders from several municipalities, that he wants to accept the proposal of environmental agencies. officials at the environment ministry hav a asked to have storage sites built on their land. government authorities are concerned about the safety of such facilities.

they said the central government must be made aware na accepting the proposal does not mean they will allow the building of these facilities. >> we decided to accept the survey because there are various things that can't be known until it is carried out. >> a resident evacuated from one of the towns expressed her feeling about the surveys being accepted. >> translator: i think we will never be able to go back home in our lifetime. we really have no other choice. nowhere else accepts such a thing. >> japan's ancient capital kyoto

draws a constant stream of admirers to its gardens, temples and treasures. the crowds are especially intense at this time when the city's trees explode in fall colors. nhk world's rina nakano has been enjoying the autumn hues at a temple with a twinkle. >> we are mixing it up by bringing an autumn nightscape. today we're at a zen buddhist temple northeast of kyoto station. the biggest attraction is the light show. it features more than 1,000 japanese maples. every day temple staff turn on the lights at around 5:00 p.m. and that's when thousands of visitors rush in to get their prime viewing spot. this illumination is what makes it one of the most popular temples to visit in kyoto this season. as you can imagine, setting up a show like this isn't easy. it's a lot more complicated than just setting up a few lights here and there. the temple staff select special garden designers every year to create this one of a kind display.

this year's show is by the master gardener. the theme of this creation is bond. he used old roof tiles to create two dragons. one parent, and one child. every few minutes, the lights change color. it symbolizes the evolving bond between parents, and their children. well those are the lights that point up at the trees and the artwork, but it is quite over there, and shift your focus from the trees down to the pond, you'll get a completely new image. these illuminated leaves are reflected onto the water, so the less wind, the clearer the image. right now, the condition is pretty good. the water is perfectly still, so you could get a great mirror shot. and that's exactly what photographers are here to do. they're here just to capture this perfectly symmetrical picture. and here's another. this bridge connects two old structures.

they're both part of an important cultural property. for centuries people have said, its curved design looks like a dragon's back. the reflection of the dragon motif also attracts a lot of people. well, this light display here continues on until december 10th until 10:00 p.m. every night. in kyoto, rina nakano, nhk world. come back for tomorrow's installment of our autumn series. rina is taking us to a temple with a special taste of both old and new. there's snow in northern japan. rachel ferguson is here with the details on that. rachel? >> hi there, yes. another snowstorm hitting hokkaido and northern honshu. you'll remember yesterday we were talking about a snowstorm. that one is gone. but there's a new one coming in. that's not really going to make any difference to you if that's where you're living, because there wasn't much of a break to be honest in these conditions. this is a system we're talking about. it's come across from

northeastern china. again, gusts up to about 70 kilometers an hour accompanying the snow. you could see an additional 30 centimeters in the next 24 hours. you'll remember we were talking yesterday about residents in hokkaido. thousands of people left without power. so, fixing these problems is going to be even more difficult, with this second storm. now the rest of the country is also going to be seeing some showers. sort of spilling down from the north here, as well. but we have this low frontal system coming up from the south. so it is going to be another fairly wet day on thursday. now these showers here, across southern china, have been ongoing for the last several days. that's been cause of concern for flooding, it's unseasonably wet here. they are going to clear up a little bit by thursday. by thursday night another system is going to start to form and move into the same region. so it will be continued concerns as we head into the weekend for, as i mentioned, flooding. also land slides and mudslides. temperaturewise, not too much of a problem down here toward the south.

20 in hong kong, 23 in taipei. but temperatures really are going to fall away as soon as we move towards the north. 6 in seoul, 4 in beijing and minus 18 for the high in ulan bator. here in tokyo we're expecting 15. okay. let's head on into the americas. and towards the west, is where we want to go. there is a major storm starting to impact the pacific coast. now from b.c. down through california, you're going to be dealing with strong winds, gusting up to about 90 kilometers an hour. and just ongoing heavy rain. the storm to the south is going to stay offshore and sends in front after front for the next several days. hardest-hit is going to be northern california. you can see where this red is popping up. you're expecting more than 200 millimeters. i think by sunday, when all is said and done, about 250 millimeters is likely. so flooding is certainly going to be very high concern here. heading on into europe, things are clearing out towards the west, which is certainly good news. but i want to show you just what that persistent rain was doing, the effect it had.

this is wales, and a town towards the north, this is the scene on tuesday. 500 homes had to be evacuated when the river burst its banks, reached record levels, causing many residents, in fact, to flee with very little warning. there was one death confirmed, an elderly woman in her home, which was inundated with these floodwaters. now residents and emergency workers are currently starting to try and clean up, of course, this very serious situation. but, there's a new threat of freezing temperatures, cold air spilling in from the north. is going to make a dramatic difference in the temperatures here. affecting the west, as well as the east. in fact, the rain turning over to snow towards northeastern europe by the end of the week. i want to talk to you about what's happening down here in the mediterranean, though. a large well-developed system here. we've heard that a tornado actually touched down in italy in the northwest. so i'm not surprised because

we're seeing winds of about 90 kilometers an hour off of this system. up in the mountains you'll probably see about a meter and a half of snow by the time this system starts to dissipate towards the end of the week. i leave you with a quick look at your temperatures, and also your extended forecast.

there's a new development between science fiction and science fact. a giant robot made its appearance in tokyo, people can control it either by sitting inside or with a smart phone. the four meter tall robot appeared at a media event at the museum of science and innovations. scientists spent two years developing it. an operator of the cockpit can manipulate the robot's fingers using a special kind of glove. >> translator: if you are inspired to make something similar to this, please do so without hesitation, it can even be a self assembly model. >> the robot will be on display

at the museum through the end of the month.